Rush: Part One & Two (The Pitstop Series Book 3)

There is a loud banging on the door, and I jump up in bed. Adrian is sleeping in the one next to mine, and I pick up my phone while I wonder who could be bothering us at… three in the morning? I move toward the door and open it before almost slamming it shut again.

“Please, Val, I don’t understand why you’re avoiding me,” he pleads, and by looking at his frustrated frown, I can tell he doesn’t know why I’m upset.

“You kicked me out of your room while she stayed! I was humiliated, Gabriel. I went to your hotel room so we can have sex, yet I was the one asked to leave,” I whisper, and his eyes go wide. Whether I planned on it, or it was only something that crossed my mind doesn’t matter. The important thing is, I wanted to spend the night with him, not be thrown out while Kira stayed. “Can’t you see the problem there?”

“My only intention was to protect you, chérie,” he informs me, but I only roll my eyes. “Don’t do that, Valentina. I’m telling the truth. She was attacking you, blaming you, and you didn’t deserve to stand there and take it. Please, tell me, how is that wrong?” he asks, shutting me up for a moment. “Chérie,” he says softly and reaches out to me, but I step away from him. Pain flashes across his face, and he drops his hands in defeat.

“I understand how difficult the situation was, but you told me to leave while she stayed in your room. Don’t you understand how embarrassing that was for me?” Mainly because it gave Kira the satisfaction.

“What did you want me to do? I didn’t want to cause a scene outside of my hotel room, which she did. Kira was screaming at me, and I had to calm her before reminding her that we are broken up. It took an hour to get rid of her, and when I went to your room, you didn’t open the door. You’ve been ignoring me the whole day when all I wanted was to celebrate with you!” he blurts out, and as logical as his words are, I’m still upset.

“I don’t want to fight anymore, Gabriel. I want to go to sleep.” I open the door, but his words stop me.

“Val, you told me not to push you away, but you’re being a hypocrite.” He’s probably right, but I’m sick and tired of always being the fool with him. I disappear into my room without speaking again. Maybe I’m not ready to face my feelings either.

James sits next to me throughout the flight, for whatever reason, and I use most of it to sleep. Every now and then, he makes small talk with me about the race or the weekend, but then he concentrates on his book again. James loves to read, which is something I’ve always admired about him. When we were younger, he read all those great classic novels and then gave me the ones he enjoyed. James waited patiently for me to finish the books before we discussed them. It started when I was ten, and he was thirteen, and it hasn’t stopped. This time, however, I gave him the book I’m reading. I gave him a copy of Die For Me, my favorite book of all time. He’s reading it on the plane right now, and I love his facial expressions.

“This back and forth between them is killing me, Val,” he complains, and I smile.

“But that’s the best part. Their love story isn’t easy. They don’t just fall in love and live happily ever after. They fight to be together,” I tell him, and he nods. “Also, when they finally do get together, it’s beautiful.” He puts on a dramatic shocked expression.

“They end up together? Jesus, Val, you just spoiled the ending,” he jokes.

“I’m so sorry,” I say and push my bottom lip forward teasingly. James glares at me but then smiles and shakes his head.

After a day of traveling and mainly sleeping, Adrian and I are back home. James left to go to his house, and I haven’t seen or spoken to Gabriel since that night at the hotel. It’s eight in the morning when we arrive at our house, and I am awake and ready to start the day. I take a quick shower, watch Adrian attempt to load the dirty laundry into the washing machine, load it myself to make sure our clothes won’t be ruined, and go downstairs to bake. After five minutes of looking through Grandma’s recipes, I decide on some easy blueberry muffins.

The doorbell rings the second I’ve placed the muffins in the oven. A small package addressed to me sits on my doorstep, and I carry it into the kitchen. My fingers reach for the beginning of the tape, and I rip it off the box right before opening it and pulling out a single envelope. Frustrated with the packaging of whatever this is, I tear open the envelope and take out the hand-drawn picture of… me. It’s a drawing of me sitting on a chair in the waiting area of an airport. I’m reading a book, biting my lip, and my legs are crossed. It’s breathtaking, and I know without looking at the back that it is one of Gabriel’s. I turn it around and find a note attached to the back.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Chérie,

I’m so sorry for disappointing you. You’ve made me realize my mistake, and I can’t stop thinking about how you felt when I told you to go. I promise I didn’t mean to upset you, but that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that I apologize for it. I’m sorry, chérie. No other woman will ever compare to your honesty, resilience, loyalty, kindness, and self-confidence. You captured my full attention from the day I met you, but we lived so far apart, and I was convinced you didn’t like me as anything other than a friend. When you moved to Monaco, and I was around you, I couldn’t help but constantly think of you. You are the only person I want to be with; I think you’ve always been. Please, I hope you know now that no one compares to you. You’re Valentina Romana, future Formula One champion.

Only yours,
Gabriel

I drop to the floor and let my heart calm down by itself. It feels like it is being squeezed and shaken, but I can’t make it stop. The drawing, the letter, and the feelings are all too much for me. This chaos between us is too much for me.